Global law firm Reed Smith announces that a team led by Panos Katsambas and Thomas D. Gommes advised Invel Real Estate Partners (Invel) on its acquisition of a 66% stake in NBG Pangaea Real Estate Investment Company (Pangaea) from the National Bank of Greece (NBG) for approximately €653 million.

The Reed Smith team advised Invel on the structuring of its investment platform, the vehicle for the Pangaea transaction, and in negotiating the terms of the €125 million investment by investment management firm York Capital. In addition, Reed Smith advised on regulatory, tax and antitrust matters, and coordinated the team of international counsel in Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Guernsey, Luxembourg, and the BVI.

Pangaea, the largest of the Greek REICs, will soon own (after closure of certain planned acquisitions during the first quarter of 2014) a portfolio of 269 commercial real estate properties, valued at over €1.0 billion. The existing portfolio encompasses nearly all of the main office buildings of NBG and its bank branches, spread across various cities in Greece.

The Reed Smith team included partners Edward Miller (competition) and Caspar Fox (tax), and associates Andrew Clark and Stephen Mooney (both corporate).

Reed Smith partner Panos Katsambas commented:

“We’re pleased that we were able to help Invel achieve its goals on this, its first transaction; the complex and international nature of the deal, including negotiating approval from multiple regulatory agencies, was a good match for Reed Smith’s broad jurisdictional and practice area capabilities."

Other firms advising Invel included Karatzas and Partners in Greece, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo in Italy, and Baker & McKenzie in the Netherlands. Sidley Austin advised Pangaea on corporate and M&A aspects.